A sad goodby to Hannah

The day began with sleeping late again, waking up again after 9. We started with another big up and then down into the 1st real industrial town of Aviles. Then out along the coast and into Gijon where Hannah was scheduled for the train to Barcelona to visit Harry. After much confusion with the Spanish train system which will not accommodate bicycles we booked into a Hostel within walking distance to the train whic was to leave at 7AM.

We made a great recovery from the drama of the train with a swim at the beautiful beach right in town, and then dinner of tapas and vino tinto near the harbor.

Monday and I need to catch up

Since last posting in Mondonero I have gotten behind on my blog. It is only because we having so much fun and doing so much that by the end of the day I am exhausted and fall to sleep once we have had dinner. To catch up I will be brief with words and post pictures instead. 

Leaving Mondonero on Friday we had a long climb and the a lovely decent to the rio Ribadeo where we crossed from the state of Galacia into Asturias. Then a short time later we reached the ocean.

Friday night we reached the little town of Navia near the coast but not on the water; 51 miles. We stayed in another small hotel over the liveliest bar in town. For lunch and dinner we had delicious seafood. The broiled fish platter had about 6 or 8 different items, clams, mussels, something a lot like haddock and a delicate white fish served whole with skin, bones and head with eyes in tact. It greatly surpassed even the fish platter at McSeagull's in Booth Bay.

We slept late on Saturday getting up after 9. There is no need to start early since it has been very cool with a constant cool for rolling in off the ocean. After our typical light breakfast we headed out but had to stop to fix a flat on Hannah's bike. Fortunately the flat came in a pleasant spot to stop and we had a spare and the tools for the fix. The most important thing with a flat tire is to solve the mystery of why the tire went flat so the replacement tube doesn't go flat again. Fortunately we were able to find a very small sharp wire, common from a steel belted radial tire that went bad, in stuck into Hannah's rear tire. It was nice to be able to teach my girl an important cycling skill.

Finally the sun came out and we ended the day ended with a decent to the coast into the little fishing village of Cudillero, where we spent the night in a pension where we had a huge room and another great dinner.

Over hill and dale

The night with the el Camino pilgrims in Miraz was a savior. The accommodations were Spartan but clean, run by British Catholics it had a new rather than an old Spanish flavor. We headed out early after some weak coffee and bread and jam. The day was cool an overcast with low hanging misty clouds. After about 25 miles and a hearty 2nd breakfast we continued our gradual climb since Santiago. Then a brilliant find by me, of a small, winding, narrow but paved road, that Hannah trusted me to take, brought us down a huge decent to the charming little town of Mondonero.

Note the slate roof and the cool misty weather. Also the vegetation is lush with all of the moisture.  Delphinium grow wild everywhere and are beautiful along with all sorts of lichen, moss, ferns and trees.

After arriving in town at about 2 we rested and explored the small but very, quaint old village and had a fantastic 4 corse traditional mid day per-fix comida (dinner) complete with a local vino tinto. 

Hannah was determined to go on in spite of the preceding days disastrous finish. She desperately wanted to get to the coast. So we headed out for what was expected to be about 25 miles on a main highway again over a pass for the next town. When the main road turned out to be a dangerous heavily travelled road with a marginal shoulder we pulled off to reconsider an alternate route. Our only option seemed to be to bushwhack through several small and confusing local roads. Until I suggested we go back to Mondonero, at which point Hannah almost started to cry with joy at the prospect of a hot shower and a bed. We found a great, charming little pension (hotel) in town and got a room on the 3rd floor overlooking the town square.

A great day with 52 miles.

1st Day on the road

After an overnight train ride we arrived at the start of el Camino in Santiago at 7AM. Somewhat adrift and groggy we wandered around and saw the beautiful town and huge Cathedral that all of the pilgrims that we were about to see were traveling by foot to see. It was a cool and over cast day and after Hannah scored a fantastic guide book complete with maps, we set off. Since this was the end of the el Camino pilgrimage we encountered a steady stream of walkers and bicyclists as we embarked. With the late start, by 1PM when we stopped for lunch we were only 15 miles in. The sun broke through and we picked up the pace until at about 3 we were at the base of a moderate climb over a pass to the last valley before the coast. 

Hannah was the navigator and I followed. After a 10 mile wrong way start we restarted the climb and all went well. When we reached the summit we thought we had an easy decent to dinner and a bed and hot shower. But a missed turn, a wrong way decent and horrible road construction had us at 8 PM climbing back up the pass on a gravel road by foot. Spirits were very low and I was sure this would be the last ride I would ever take with my daughter. We were desperately hungry, out of gas and in a remote land of cows and pasture and not a soul around. After flagging down a car for directions we were escorted to a farm on the Camino trail where the farmer's nicest wife Elena, cooked a dinner of eggs with cheese, bread, sausage, olives and wine, all produced on their farm. After dinner we made the final 15 miles of the decent to the el Camino alberge\hostel lodging. Fortunately it was still light until 10 PM and we arrived as the sun was just going down.

Check out the windmills in the background up on the ridge.

After a 72 mile day we went to bed very tired but still enthusiastic for the next days ride.

Recovery from disappointment

After a great nights sleep in our hotel in Madrid the day began with a light breakfast and successfully packing everything onto our bicycles. Then we made a quick visit to a neighborhood bike shop to pick up a few minor items and air up our tires. Hannah wisely convinced me to take the train with her up to Chamartin the northern rail departure terminal and we arrived 90 minutes early for our 3 PM departure.

At this point I was a little disappointed, thinking it would be an uneventful day, when I had promised Hannah that every day would be an adventure. But when we went to purchase out tickets we were told that bicycles were not allowed on the train!!! BIG disappointment, but Hannah [I really liked her thinking] thought we should just try to get on anyway. Well even her whilley charms and winning smile did not work with the stern train conductor. Hummiliation followed by disappointment followed by anger and then tears came in quick succession. Now what? We had a 7 hour wait until the sleeper at 10:30 left and we were exhausted having been ready for a restful relaxing train ride. So we cycled to a nice little nearby park and took a siesta, after all, we had an air pad and sleeping bag. After an hour we woke to a park filled with children playing a soccer game and families setting up for dinner. 

Then the next thing we knew Alberto, who had been out for a run and was the nicest young man stopped by to chat. We had a lovely afternoon and Hannah made a fast return to her fluent Spanish. 

Well the next thing you know we stopped by Alberto's house to pick up his bicycle [he is a competitive triathlete] and rode off together to a great hamburger place for dinner. We made a great new friend in Madrid who escorted us to the night train and saw us safely off to Santiago.

I am now falling asleep in the cozyest little bunk bed being rocked to sleep by the rolling train. Hannah is in the upper bunk. We arrive tomorrow in Santiago at 7 and will begin to unravel el Camino.

Resuming the blog after a long delay

I really don't know where to start. Here it is 10 months after my last entry. I had promised to resume posting when I got home but it just didn't happen. When the trip ended I was just swept up again back into my prior life. It has taken until now as I embark on another trip to realize that the ride across America last summer was an interlude into a time and place where my focus and priorities were very different. Last summer I was able to step away entirely from responsibility and focus on fun, making new friends, and survival, having set a physical goal that forced living in the moment and pushing physically and mentally to a place outside my normal comfort zone.

This trip will again be very different. I begin leaving Stockbridge and traveling with my new touring bike by train to NYCity where I met up with my daughter Hannah at her apartment in Brooklyn and then by cab to Kennedy Airport and an overnight flight to Madrid.

I am so close to home I can taste it. Yesterday we had an 86 mile ride from Niagara falls to Rochester and today we rode about 95 miles from Rochester to just east of Syracuse. Much of the 2 days was along or very close to the Erie Canal and the terrain and scenery has definitely gotten me into thoughts of HOME. For a Cancer who is very much a home-body, I have struggled being away for now almost 7 weeks. And sleeping in 45 different motel rooms every night for the past 7 weeks is a nightmare.

Now all that remains is 85 miles tomorrow and then a night in Little Falls just east of Utica, before Albany, Brattleboro VT and Manchester, NH before our arrival on Monday in Portsmouth. For me these last few days will be enormously busy and hectic. The plan is to organize a splinter group tomorrow night of several of my penguin friends and allies. The tentative plan is to skip the stay in Albany on Friday and modify that days modest 75 mile ride and extend it to about 110 so that we can stay at HOME in Stockbridge. The decesion will be weather dependent and only if we have the "legs" with a strong start leaving Little Falls, NY on Friday morning. I will have assistance from my good friend and Trojan, Chico who will SAG our luggage and provide support for the Albany to Stockbridge leg. I am already dreaming of a night at home in my own bed and decent meal in place of another Holiday Inn and Old Country Buffet out near the malls in Latham, NY.

It will mean a long ride on Friday and another tough day on Saturday to catch the group in Brattleboro, VT, but worth the effort. This will probably be my last post until I get home and can catch up, because somehow in addition to all of this, I desperately want to return from Brattleboro for Sarah's art show opening at Naumkeg in Stockbridge on Saturday night. Please wish me luck because I will need it!!!!!